1970’s TV Classics – A Walk Down Memory Lane
Tom Barr shot me over a a link to a Gong Show video along with a suggestion to look into finding some old 70’s TV shows to share with those of us that were actually around back then, as well as a few of us that were not…
It amazes me how much of the old stuff you can actually find floating around the Intertubes. Who the heck is digitizing all this content? Anyway, I’m not going to complain. Below I’ve got clips from CHiPs, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Gong Show, Knight Rider, The Muppet Show and more. Enjoy!
The Gong Show
To kick things off, The Gong Show was the American Idol of it’s day. Contestants performed in front of a panel of celebrity judges who would either watch an entire act, or sound a big gong to stop the unbearable ones. Here is a little compendium of the hilarity (beware: there’s profanity at the end):
The Dukes of Hazzard
Now, the Gong Show might have been the worthless talent show of the decade, but one of the greatest TV shows around was the Dukes of Hazzard. It had it all… car chases, moonshine running, and Daisy’s hot ass hanging out of her shorts. (Did you see the General Lee race the Gran Torino?)
Knight Rider
Speaking of cool cars, let’s not forget about Kit from Knight Rider. I wanted a Trans Am with digital instrument cluster so bad when I was a kid that it hurt. (Don’t forget the Knight Rider Theme Song – Beatbox Edition.)
CHiPs
Oh, and we had more than cars on TV. Don’t forget Ponch and John’s Harley Davidson motorcycles from CHiPs! Here is a montage from the very first episode of the TV show.
The Muppet Show
We also had some great shows for kids. For example, Jim Henson’s Muppet Show was such a great show that adults loved it as much as kids! Here is a classic episode featuring comedic genius Peter Sellers (of Pink Panther fame).
Compilations of 70’s TV Shows
And to wrap things up, here are two little compilations of other TV shows and movies from the 1970’s:
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I am trying to find the name to a TV program that was on in the 70’s. I remember watching it on Sunday mornings (in the DC area). It was a show on various and differing subjects. The host was a man, had dark curly hair and glasses, was thin, (and may have had a moustache). The opening to the show flashed a quick group of photos, pictures, and etchings … I remember watch pieces and trains and animals, all shown in quick succession. I can not remember the name of the program. Anyone know?
Watching all of these videos brought back a lot of memories of 1970s tv shows. I had not thought about the Gong show in years. This show, like American Idol, seemed to bring out the wackiest people. Were there ever any talented acts on the Gong show? All I remember is everybody getting ‘gonged’.
Dru
I just watched Knight Rider 2008 the other day, I really enjoyed that and it brought back a lot of memories. The special effects are a lot more advanced than they were in the old Knight Rider of course.
I also enjoyed an episode of Get Smart I was lucky to find on Emule the other day :-)
Kim:)
Wayne,
That is totally awesome! Thanks for sharing. I was not familiar with Hulu and put in for an invite. I also just got stuck on OpenHulu for about an hour! :-)
John P.
I watched the Muppets in Germany and did not know all the “stars”.
By the way the cook was in the translated german version a “danish” cook.
cheers
Rhoody
Syndicated re-runs of these shows completely owned my youth :o
Have you seen Hulu yet? It’s got entire seasons of old (and new) shows of just about anything that was on Fox or NBC, Shows like Adam12, Emergency, SNL, Simpsons, a boat load of TV shows along with movies too.
Hulu may still be in beta and you have to ask for an invite. It took about a month for mine to come in, but in the mean time there’s the public version at http://openhulu.com while you’re waiting.
Chuck Barris wow, who could forget the dating game, the newlywed game, and The ultimate: the gong show. Loved the unknown comic! King of trash TV